105) DIY Plastic Bag Jump Rope

 I really do make a huge effort to not get plastic bags, yet somehow they seem to multiply in our house. So on a quest to figure out something to do with them, I came up with this idea, what about a jump rope. The girls love jump ropes, although they haven't quite figured out how to actually jump rope yet (although the Bee is working on it.) They do however love to use them to limbo under, tie to a tricycle or wagon, drag things around, as a police stop in the bike traffic circle in our backyard, and many many other uses. So I figured I would try to make one from the plastic bags and was pleasantly surprised when it actually worked really well. To make the jump rope I started by taking plastic bags, and cutting them open so they were one flat piece. I then cut off the handles and any extra pieces so I was left with one large rectangle of plastic.

 Next I cut each rectangle into long strips. I just eyeballed it, since it doesn't really matter if the strips are the same width or even length. After cutting a few bags worth of strip, I started tying the strips together to a little longer then the length I wanted the jump rope to be. I made a total of 12 long strips.

 I then took six of the strips and taped them together with painters tape and taped the whole group to the back of a chair (if you ever made friendship bracelets as a kid you know exactly what I am talking about.) I then braided the six strips together into one very long, jump rope sized braid. Once I finished braiding the first 6 strips together I repeated this step with the second 6 strips so that I had two long plastic braids. I then twisted the two braids together tightly so that the jump rope would have enough weight to swing when jumping.

 After twisting the two braids together I taped the ends with duck tape to create a handle. We then took our jump rope outside for a test and it worked great. We tied one end to a chair and I swung the other end for the Bee to try jumping, which she loved. I am sure this afternoon it will get put to good use pulling wagons and tricycles. The plastic is surprisingly strong and seems to hold up well and the good news is I have plenty more plastic bags to make another one!